Celebrating 87 years of success and growth, Lake Region Electric Cooperative (LREC) held its Annual Meeting on Thursday, April 18. 

The meeting was hosted at Life Church in Fergus Falls with satellite in-person meetings in Frazee and Parkers Prairie, along with an online livestream option. 

A record 1,316 people attended this year either in person or online. For members who were unable to attend, you are encouraged to watch the annual meeting video at www.lrec.coop/AnnualMeeting.

Board chair report

LREC’s Board Chair Tom Jennen opened the meeting and spoke about the role of LREC’s directors who are elected by the members they serve, which is to make sure the cooperative is in the best position it can be to serve the members in the manner they all deserve. 

Jennen mentioned the Board of Directors continue to look for ways to positively transform the experience of LREC members. Jennen also recognized the retirement of District 4 Director Earl Rydell and his 15 years of serving LREC members.

CEO message

Lake Region’s CEO Tim Thompson discussed a variety of topics, including the importance of member engagement, positive 2023 member satisfaction survey results, LREC employees and their desire to serve LREC members around the clock, the cooperative’s growth, constantly looking at ways to continue to improve reliability for members, LREC projects, innovation and technology leading to positive results, LREC’s rate strategy that includes engaging with members, innovative programs, creating new revenue streams to keep rates as low as possible, the value of electricity and LREC being actively engaged throughout its service area.

“I am grateful for the high level of engagement our members have with their cooperative, LREC, and our goal is to make sure our Annual Meetings and other member events deliver the

experiences our members deserve. We are focused on keeping our members as informed as possible so they feel good about their cooperative, and so LREC can be the best version of itself possible,” said Thompson.

Director elections

Incumbent and current Board Vice Chair Kurt Krueger of District 1 was elected by acclamation, and incumbent and current Board Chair Tom Jennen of District 7 was elected by acclamation.

District 4 had two candidates, Lee Mindemann and David Pawlowski, and Lee Mindemann was elected as the new District 4 Director. Lee Mindemann will be the successor to Earl Rydell, who retired after serving as District 4 Director for 15 years.